


Spoonful of Sugar

by MegaWallflower



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alcohol, Animation, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Unresolved Emotional Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 09:53:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21967375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegaWallflower/pseuds/MegaWallflower
Summary: Guy and Kakashi have their first of many drinking competitions.Kakashi is far more familiar with the actual concept of a drinking contest than Guy is. He lives with Sakumo, after all, and Sakumo’s turned to drinking more and more lately.Still, there’s something endearing about Guy’s pervading innocence and straightforwardness to Kakashi, especially when nothing else in the world makes sense.
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi & Hatake Sakumo, Hatake Kakashi/Maito Gai | Might Guy, Hatake Sakumo & Maito Gai | Might Guy
Comments: 11
Kudos: 109
Collections: KakaGai Week 2019 entries





	Spoonful of Sugar

“Rival! Guess what—”

If Guy had expected Kakashi to make the effort to stop mid-swing to avoid hitting him, he would be sorely disappointed. The words were knocked out of him rather forcibly, along with his breath, when Kakashi’s kick connected with Guy’s abdomen.

Guy was sent flying and hit a training stump. “…An impressive kick. Just what I’d expect from you, rival…!” Guy said, bouncing back as quickly as ever.

“I’m busy, Guy,” Kakashi said, too tired to even roll his eyes. He was here to blow off steam and train, so that’s what he continued to do, hollowly going through the motions and miming a fight against the training dummy, even as Guy tried desperately to get his attention.

“I can see that! And training is important! No one knows that more than me!”

A solid punch collided with his wooden training puppet, followed by a roundhouse kick; the force behind it broke the puppet in half and sent it skidding across the field. “Then shut up and go train by yourself.”

The attempt at intimidation fell flat. Guy clapped. “What amazing strength! But there are all kinds of training! All kinds of tests of skills! That’s what I’m trying to tell you!”

Kakashi’s disinterest showed clearly in his eyes.

Guy was clearly starting to become frustrated with how Kakashi was ignoring him. This time, Guy rushed in front of him and blocked his kick. Kakashi kept going, and Guy tried to meet him blow for blow, making it quickly devolve into a quick and dirty spar between them. Guy was fully focused on his defense and Kakashi didn’t feel like putting much effort in, so this one drew on longer than they normally did.

“I! Learned! Something! Neat!” Guy said, punctuating each word with a block or an attempted counter. “A new kind of contest for us to try!”

“What do you want me to beat you in this time?” Kakashi finally asked.

Excitement bubbled from the older boy, glimmering bright in his dark eyes as they kept going through the motion of their simple fight, but it did little to stir curiosity in Kakashi. More often than not, Guy was just easy to excite. It was probably something ridiculously simple and childish. It would be quicker to get it over with.

“I challenge you to a drinking contest!”

Guy was knocked off his feet and sent flying much farther this time. Kakashi clenched his fists, having accidentally put more than he’d planned to into that hit in his surprise. He hadn’t planned to waste that much energy on Guy, but he had actually caught Kakashi off guard with that suggestion.

Guy was older than him, but he wasn’t _that_ much older than him. Certainly not old enough for anyone to sell him alcohol. Kakashi was pretty sure Duy didn’t even drink.

Kakashi’s father drank. More and more lately, now that he wasn’t getting any missions. Kakashi’s father was being weird in a lot of ways lately, but when he drank, he became a complete stranger to Kakashi.

He wasn’t a violent drunk; he was a sad, somber, sobbing drunk. The sort of man who sometimes closed himself up in his room as if Kakashi couldn’t hear him quietly crying in there. The sort of man who sometimes held Kakashi way too tightly and repeated apologies without ever even trying to explain. Kakashi couldn’t understand why he’d ever want to lose control like that.

Maybe he liked the way it dulled his senses, slowed his mind, left him a little less alone with whatever thoughts were racing through his head.

Maybe that wasn’t it at all.

Kakashi couldn’t begin to fathom it. For all his maturity and skill, he apparently still wasn’t important enough to be told a single thing. He was certain that he was being left out of countless important talks, left to try to make sense of piecemeal rumors and whispered gossip about his father and his tiny clan. Konoha had changed the way it looked at and spoke about the White Fang, and he didn’t seem to have any intention to tell Kakashi why that was. And Kakashi couldn’t get a single straight answer out of the man he barely understood anymore, who used to be his father.

Kakashi shook his head. That was going too far. Sakumo was Sakumo, and Sakumo was Kakashi’s father, no question about it. He was sure his father was just having a slow period. His father was fine, he was just weird sometimes. He always had been. The village was stupid. That was the problem. But the village had always been stupid, anyway.

“Ow… That hurt… That was a good shot, Rival,” Guy groaned, rubbing his aching muscles as he finally stood back up. Apparently, it didn’t hurt enough to discourage his earlier enthusiasm. “But anyway! Let’s have a drinking contest! I bet I can drink way, way more than you!”

“Uh… huh…”

“I can see you have your reservations!” Rather than an adult, Guy talked like someone who was trying way too hard to be seen as an adult. Duy did the same, though. “Worry not! I can get everything we need! I’m prepared! I got prepared before I even came here to issue you this challenge in the first place! Just leave it all to me!” Guy held up a thumb and winked. “I’ll get everything we need for our drinking contest and meet you back at your house! Okay? –Okay!”

“…Alright.”

Guy was nearly knocked off his feet again, this time out of sheer surprise. “What? Really? You want to?”

Kakashi simply nodded.

Honestly, he was morbidly curious. Drinking was something of a rite of passage. If Kakashi grew up a little more, he might actually understand things again. He might get where his father was coming from or what he needed. Kakashi could stand to do some growing up himself. If there was a chance this would lessen the distance between himself and Sakumo, then…

Guy grinned and nodded back. “You sound enthusiastic! Alright! I’ll meet you at the Hatake compound, quick as I can!”

“Wait.”

Guy didn’t so much stop as he tripped himself, rolled forward, and looked back at Kakashi from where he now sat upside-down on the ground. “Yeah?”

“Have you heard anything about my dad lately?”

Guy folded his arms and frowned pensively. “…Nothing that makes sense,” which wasn’t an encouraging or helpful answer. Kakashi knew how dumb Guy was, so that could apply to any number of things. “‘Looks like your dad might have some competition for the biggest failure in the village!’ …is what they said. When people say things like that, you’re supposed to ignore them and laugh it off, because they just want to get a rise out of you… is what Papa says.”

Kakashi fell silent, contemplating the meaning of that taunt. Guy was generally about as subtle as a punch to the face, but this was the only thing he’d said that managed to hit him so hard. Kakashi clenched his fists.

One thing was crystal clear. If the rumors had even reached Guy’s ears, then everyone must have heard them by now.

“But…” Guy rolled himself back upright and held out a fist. “I punched them in the gut! Sakumo’s really cool, there’s no way I’d let a bunch of idiots say dumb stuff! They don’t know anything! –Ah, um, don’t tell my dad! He told me to stop picking fights!”

“You _actually_ managed to hit them this time?” Kakashi leaned closer in return, as if to challenge him.

Guy finally seemed to retreat this time, inching away slowly. “That’s…”

Silently, a bittersweet smirk pulled at Kakashi’s masked lips. It showed in his eyes and his voice that he was impressed, if only a bit, and Guy’s chest thrummed with pride. “Thanks.”

“Of—Of course! You and your dad are the most amazing people in the village! I know that better than anyone! I don’t know how everybody else managed to forget that, but I won’t! Ever! Now I know for sure that some grownups just say things that don’t make sense because they feel like it!”

It was the sort of sincerity that almost made it hard to notice that Guy was also saying that, on some level, he’d always understood why they would make fun of Guy and of Duy, and that Sakumo and Kakashi just always seemed above that level of scrutiny.

And why wouldn’t he think that way? Guy and Duy were seen as the dregs of the village. Kakashi and his dad were different. They were supposed to be different. Apparently, that didn’t mean much of anything.

“…It only doesn’t make sense to you because you’re just a child,” Kakashi muttered. “Nothing makes sense to you.”

“Did you already have plans today? We can do the challenge another time.” Guy’s face softened, not with pity or condolence, but with something Kakashi couldn’t name. “Youth waits for no one, but that’s all the more reason to do what we want with it! I’ll convince you yet! There’s always time!”

“…Didn’t you say you were going to get the drinks?” Kakashi changed the subject. “Hurry up.”

“Right! I did!” Guy rolled back onto his feet and whisked away with somewhat impressive speed. He still wasn’t an exceptional shinobi, but he knew how to move his body, Kakashi would admit that. Not out loud, of course.

If Kakashi just let Guy beat him to his house, his father would probably let him in again.

Those two sobbing and bonding over drinks would be a sorry, pathetic sight. And since when was Guy mature enough to drink? He was older than Kakashi by less than a year, but less mature, less knowledgeable, less everything that mattered. For all intents and purposes, Guy was more of a kid than Kakashi. He should be, at least. Kakashi thought he was.

He started the short trek home. If nothing was going to make sense in this village anymore, not even Guy, Kakashi might as well start figuring things out for himself.

“…Kakashi?”

Sakumo’s voice filtered into the entryway. Kakashi sighed as he closed the front door, letting his scarf rest on the nearby table. “I’m home,” Kakashi greeted, less-than-half-heartedly.

It might have been a while since he’d been here at all.

Kakashi avoided his house these days. Its atmosphere felt gloomier and more oppressive every time he returned, and worse, Sakumo was always there before him, looking more and more tired and ragged than he had the last time.

When he was younger, Kakashi always enjoyed waiting for his father to come home so he could grill him about whatever the latest mission was about or how impressed the hokage was with him this time. It had been so much fun, asking his father questions that he knew he’d only answer with a ruffle of Kakashi’s hair and a softly apologetic, “Sorry, Kakashi, that’s classified.”

Now, it seemed like Sakumo was almost afraid to leave the house anymore. Or maybe that was just Kakashi wanting to believe it was something like fear, and not just that Sakumo was really too tired and feeble to make an effort anymore. After a pause, Sakumo finally returned the greeting with a weary smile. “Welcome home.”

Kakashi visibly winced. It hurt that even when he was haggard and exhausted like that, the affection in his voice was still genuine. He dodged Sakumo’s attempt to ruffle his hair.

Sakumo noticed that. He had to. But his smile just softened further.

“…Father… Are you—” Kakashi bit his tongue. An uncomfortable anger burned at his heart. He wasn’t even sure what he wanted to ask. Any words he could think to say felt uncertain and wrong.

_Are you drunk?_

Sakumo smelled of alcohol. It wasn’t a strong smell, but it didn’t need to be –Kakashi’s mask couldn’t dampen his sharp sense of smell enough for him not to notice the distinct smell of diluted, fermented rice. Sakumo held it at an angle so it was partially hidden, but Kakashi could still see the empty bottle in his hand.

_Are you done crying?_

The tear streaks looked fresh on his face, but for some reason, today seemed to be one of those days where Sakumo refused to cry in Kakashi’s presence. Then again, he only really bawled in front of Kakashi when he was very drunk, so that answered his first unvoiced question well enough.

_Is there something I can do?_

Obviously, there wasn’t. He’d only get a non-answer and a smile if he asked.

He really couldn’t think of anything.

Empty space filled the conversation. Pervasive, ever present emptiness like what Kakashi had been feeling the past few weeks. There was just nothing to be said.

“Did you have fun today? Are you feeling okay?” Sakumo asked amicably, trying to lift the weight off of the conversation again with his gentle tone. Kakashi could never underestimate his father’s perceptiveness. He took a moment to collect himself, breathing in, then out.

All it did was make the fury in Kakashi’s heart hurt even more. Maybe he did have something to say. “I wasn’t out having fun. I was training. Like always. Like the shinobi I am. Fun is something little kids have.”

“I see,” was all Sakumo had to offer to that.

“Dad. It's been weeks...” Kakashi said. “I know I’m not supposed to press. It’s probably classified. If you were going to tell me, you already would have. But I also know that both of us...” Kakashi’s voice trailed off, and he stared hopefully at his father, to no avail. Sakumo just stared back with that same unreadable expression. Kakashi glared and tried not to pout. “—If you’d just explain anything to me, I could probably find whoever’s spreading lies about you and shut them up myself. Then we can put all this behind us and life can go back to normal. If someone just told me what was going on, I could take care of it on my own—”

“Kakashi. You really shouldn’t concern yourself with this, please.”

“Why shouldn’t I?”

They were speaking in hypotheticals, both tiptoeing around specifics, but Sakumo still threw him a strange look. Bemused, vaguely sorrowful. “Why would you want to?”

“—Stop treating me like I’m a child, because I’m _not_.” Kakashi himself could barely understand the bitterness in his own tone. Sakumo stared at him for a long while, and then tilted his head up with another tired sigh.

“I’m sorry, Kakashi. I am. I’m doing my best. I want to find a way to fix things for you. I don’t want to be a burden on you. I apologize for that. I apologize for being a lackluster father. But I cannot apologize for trying not to burden you with things that aren’t your fault. I can only ask that you forgive me. I know you’re a strong boy. Stronger than me. It’d make me happy if you learn to use that strength and those brains for more important things. I’m really not worth it.”

“Do you honestly believe that?” Because Kakashi didn't. Not for one moment. “Don't just say things to try and placate me, dad!”

Sakumo’s expression remained calculated and unreadable. “Then I won't. You can't let your mind linger on it, Kakashi. This is something that’s out of both of our control. I’ll look at the hand I’ve been dealt… and I don’t have any right to advise you on what to do. No matter what, though, I’d really rather you just be happy and unburdened… I’d do anything to facilitate that.”

Another heavy silence fell between them, one that didn't sit well with either of them. Sakumo only then seemed to realize that he was gripping the neck of the bottle so tightly it might shatter. He sighed and sat down the emptied bottle, not looking at Kakashi. Somehow, the air seemed sullied.

Kakashi felt something stir in his chest, the air feeling charged with something unexplainable. “—I’m going drinking!” he blurted out. He tried to announce with an aura of mature confidence, like he really was unbothered and above it all.

Even to his own ears, he just sounded like a petulant brat. He felt idiotic long after he said it.

Sakumo’s eyes blinked in distant surprise as he finally looked back up at Kakashi, a confused, uncertain laugh of embarrassment coming from his lips. “Excuse me?”

At least the declaration made the practiced smile on his face finally die; a meditative frown took its place. Kakashi preferred that. Kakashi would rather have Sakumo yell at him than waste away in their house like this. Or if he couldn’t even do that, then Kakashi should at least be an adult about this. It was so obvious that everyone was keeping secrets from him.

Sakumo shifted in place where he sat, almost looking uncomfortable. “Kakashi…”

Whatever he had planned to say, it was interrupted by the loud echo of a knock at the door.

Reflexively, Sakumo was up with a start, moving with startling speed to stand between Kakashi and the door. Sakumo was stiff and at attention, empty sake bottle instantly replaced by a tanto in his hand and fearful, sharp glare on his face. He wasn’t slowed or dulled as a shinobi when he was drunk. If anything, he was more on-edge at those times. More cautious. More protective of Kakashi, who he physically couldn’t ever be inebriated enough to raise his voice or his weapons at.

“Rival! I’m here!” Guy called, and Kakashi could hear him jumping up and down outside the door. He wasn’t accompanied by the very distinct smell of alcohol, for some reason. “Are you home? –Oh! Maybe I beat him here!” The sound of giggly little cheers followed, and Kakashi rolled his eyes.

Sakumo relaxed, putting away his tanto. “You were expecting Guy today…?”

“For some dumb challenge,” Kakashi walked over to the door, sensing the tension in his father’s body ebb away. “Our drinking competition.”

Sakumo tensed up again all at once, less like a frightened soldier and more like a worried father now. “You’re going drinking with _Guy_?”

Kakashi surveyed Sakumo, eyebrow arched expectantly as he dared, “What, you’re going to say I can’t?”

Sakumo stared at him for a long while, and Kakashi knew he couldn't truly hide anything from him. “…You know I won't judge you for anything – can't judge you for anything.” Sakumo pressed the palm of his hand to his own forehead, looking exasperated as he ran his fingers through his unruly white hair. “However, that said… _Kakashi_.” Sakumo’s eyes were on him, and he couldn't blame his father for passing judgement even if he said he wouldn't. If not judgement, then pity, or concern, maybe even annoyance or anger, if that was even possible anymore.

It was less than an empty threat. Sakumo didn’t make it as far as a threat. He tiredly sunk back and didn’t say anything more, and Kakashi had never been so disappointed that he hadn’t been scolded.

Guy banged impatiently at the door again until Kakashi finally answered.

“Kakashi!” Guy adjusted the bags he was carrying under his arms and on top of his head and peeked past his rival. “And Sakumo, too! Hi, again! Here it is! I brought us two of my best cups, and I brought us these for our drinking contest!”

Guy waved the bag around, and neither Kakashi nor Sakumo could ignore the distinct lack of the sharp smell of alcohol. Sakumo tilted his head like a lost puppy. “Um? You’re here for… your drinking contest with Kakashi, Guy?”

“That’s right! –Kakashi! I know you hate sweet stuff, ‘cause you always put it on my plate when Papa’s not looking,” Guy whispered, careful to keep his voice low, as if he could slip that past Sakumo’s trained ears. He leaned back away and continued in a louder voice, “And I didn’t want you to say I was cheating by picking something you hate! So, I got us some vegetable juice! Me and Papa made it from our garden! It’s not sweet, but it’s not… too vegetable? Too icky? I dunno, there’s not a food in the world that I don’t like, so I wouldn’t get it. But it’s very healthy! It energizes us super-fast!” He pulled some jugs out of the bags and set them down on the table with a flourish. “Tadah!”

Both Kakashi and Sakumo blinked, not quite confused but certainly dazed.

“…Okay, fine, I admit, it’s not all vegetables,” Guy continued, as if he was being prodded along. “There are some fruits. But it’s not too sweet! I promise! I’m not a liar! You have my word!” Guy leaned in again to whisper, “Actually, Papa’s a pickier eater than me, and he approves of this, so you’ll like it, too! Now the only thing standing in the way of my victory or yours is skill!” Guy spun back, almost slipped and fell on his discarded bags, regained his footing and pretended he’d meant to do that. “It’s time, Kakashi! For our showdown! Man-to-man!” Guy pointed and held the pose for dramatic effect, hoping for some sort of reaction from either Hatake. “If you’re man enough, that is!”

It was naïve and ridiculous and way too try-hard.

Kakashi and Sakumo exchanged a bewildered glance.

“…Man-to-man rival showdown!” Guy repeated desperately, like a cough for attention.

Sakumo chuckled as Guy pouted indignantly. Seeing Sakumo’s face, Kakashi couldn’t help but crack a smile. Sakumo wasn’t a giggly drunk, so this wasn’t the sake. This was just Sakumo. Genuine, awkward Sakumo. A glimpse of a Sakumo that Kakashi recognized.

“Wha—Hey! Why are you laughing?!” Guy’s cheeks tinted pink.

“So, this is… your drinking contest?” Sakumo managed between his laughter.

“Of course! A drinking contest, just like you see grown-ups do in bars all the time! It’s a competition to see who can drink the most before they have to go pee! A drinking contest!”

Chuckles turned to peals of laughter that were almost strong enough to throw Sakumo off balance. It was followed by hushed exchanges of Guy’s “Really? Tell me what’s so funny!” and Sakumo’s playful, tearful, “Sorry—I’m sorry—I know I shouldn’t laugh, but—I’m sorry, really.”

The fit of laughter helped Kakashi feel more at ease, and it gave him a moment to smile and feel something stir inside himself as well. His cheeks turned pink from the laughter he was trying to hold in, until he burst out laughing so hard that he doubled over along with his father.

Guy wasn’t smart, and he definitely wasn’t mature, but there was something about him that made painful tension just vanish into something fluffier and more bearable. Even Kakashi had thought that his father had forgotten how to laugh, or even smile in a way that wasn’t meant to mask a million secrets.

“What—you, too?!” Guy was surprised that Kakashi was even capable of laughing that hard. “Argh! What’s so funny?! I’m serious—like I always am! You’re laughing because you think I’ll lose, aren’t you?! Oh yeah, well—um!” Guy fidgeted, panicking a little as he struggled to remember how his own Nice Guy Pose went. He finally held up a thumb and grinned a shaky grin, declaring weakly, “Well! T-thank you for cheering!”

“You really are a kid,” Kakashi laughed, and Guy tried to make himself look taller and more solid when he shot back, “No, I’m not! My papa says the manliest thing ever is facing yourself and the world with a smile! So, I’m a man!”

Guy huffed and set drinks up on the table and finally took out the cups –two small, handmade, bright green clay cups. One of them had a turtle painted on, and the other had a dog. Kakashi wasn’t sure if they had been made by Guy or by Duy, but whichever one made them was not exactly an artist. So, probably Guy. “Here!”

Kakashi accepted the cup and sniffed its contents curiously while Sakumo looked in the cupboard and took out a cup for himself.

“Sakumo, you can have some, too,” Guy said, filling Sakumo’s cup without having to be asked, “but this is a contest between _rivals_ , so you don’t count towards Kakashi’s score. Drinking contests are about who can hold their drinks the best, not about who’s dads can hold their drinks the best!”

Sakumo burst into another round of laughter, working to calm himself before he took another drink. “Alright. I understand. Thank you, Guy. This is just what I needed.”

Guy blushed and grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “Sure! No problem! Anytime! Kakashi’s my rival, so you’re practically my rival-in-law! Or something like that…?” He said, suddenly timid and tripping over his words.

He was so easy to read, Kakashi couldn’t believe that for a second he might have thought Guy was maturing along with the rest of the village and leaving Kakashi behind. Obviously, if nothing else, Guy would always only be Guy.

Kakashi set his mug down at the table, moving to sit across from his father. The two Hatakes exchanged another look, then a smile in silent apology to each other and silent agreement about Guy.

Completely oblivious to them, Guy brought the cup to his face two-handed, trying to drink it all down in a single gulp. He slammed the empty cup down on the table with a too-smug grin. “Well? How’s that! Pretty impressive, aren’t I, Rival?! Who’s laughing now?!”

Kakashi followed suit, taking small sips and watching the childish determination written all over Guy’s face as he downed juice, of all things, followed by the exhausted sigh and prideful grin Guy showed once he’d managed to finish his cup.

Kakashi’s fingers twitched against the mug, and he angled his cup so it hid the lower half of his face, where a smile of relief slowly spread across his lips.


End file.
